John Elliott
Personal information
NationalityBritish (English)
Born(1901-10-12)12 October 1901
Hoxton, London, England
Died3 July 1945(1945-07-03) (aged 43)
Balikpapan, Indonesia
Sport
Sportboxing
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
Men's Boxing
Silver medal – second place 1924 Paris Middleweight

John Elliott (12 October 1901 – 3 July 1945) was a British middleweight boxer who competed in the 1920s.[1]

Biography

Elliott won a silver medal in boxing at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, losing against the successful British boxer Harry Mallin in the final bout. He won the Amateur Boxing Association 1924[2] and 1925[3] middleweight title, when boxing out of the Polytechnic Boxing Club.[4]

At some point following his Olympic appearance, Elliott emigrated to Australia. On 8 April 1941, a year-and-a-half after the outbreak of the Second World War, he enlisted in the Australian Army in Paddington, New South Wales, giving his residence as Sydney.[5] He was discharged as a staff sergeant in 1943 and became a war correspondent.[5] On 3 July 1945, while covering the invasion of Balikpapan with fellow journalist William Smith, Elliott went ahead of the advancing Australian troops; a Bren gunner, believing them to be Japanese troops, shot and killed them both.[6][7]

References

  1. "John Elliott". Olympedia. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  2. "Amateur Association Championships". Northern Whig. 10 April 1924. Retrieved 29 December 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. "Amateur Boxing Championships". Birmingham Daily Gazette. 2 April 1925. Retrieved 31 December 2021 via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "Roll of Honour". England Boxing. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  5. 1 2 "World War Two Service". Australian Government. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  6. Long, Gavin (1963). The Final Campaigns. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Canberra, Australia: Australian War Memorial. p. 524.
  7. "John Elliott – WAR CORRESPONDENT – 1901-1945". ABC. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
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